Pros and Cons of keeping a roo

[Raubkatze]

Sorry to make another post about my rooster so soon, but I had a rather traumatic morning.

My roo tried to mount two of my favorite girls this morning, and much chaos ensued. They are only 9.5 weeks old, so nobody is laying yet, or even anywhere near laying age. One of the girls he would not stop harassing. I had to physically get him to leave her alone. Obviously, I cannot stand out in the run all day, so now I am worried about my ladies.

So, help me decide one way or another if he gets to stick around or not. This is not my first time having chickens, but this is my first time having a rooster with my hens. I do not plan to hatch my own eggs; we plan to eat them all. Does having a rooster help flock happiness? Will he protect them once they start to free range? Or are they more trouble than benefit? I feel so bad, I raised him since he was a day old, but I will not have him harming my girls either.

 

[thistlewick]

Ah! I had the same problem when I established my first flock and the cockerels I had didn't grow up with older hens to teach them how to behave.

I will give you the AWESOME advice MrsK gave me (I cannot seem to tag her! ugh!)

Remove him to a separate pen -- better if you have more than 1 so he won't get despondently lonely. See if he mellows out as he gets older, he might, and then you can assess him then and put him back then. My George and Chuck and Sarge all were beyond horny with the girls when they were 9-14 weeks old and they were stressed and NOT liking all the mad chasing and attention from the boys. We separated them and PEACE ensued. WAY later, months and months later, when the boys grew up, we assessed and decided Chuck was the option. He's small, just barely larger than the hens themselves, and very docile. He ended up being great and we love his dorky self.

She also said that flocks are generally calmer WITHOUT a rooster and I would say that is 100% true. Hens do NOT need a rooster.

A good one is nice to have around, but not even mandatory. He does flock protection and minds fights - but there was not a lot of fighting before he showed up and they were already hawk savvy and called warnings themselves.

If you only have the one boy, you could make a side pen within view of the girls so he isn't lonely but can't get at them. Might work til he is older and calms down.

Once ALL the girls are laying he can go back with them if you assess that he's safe.

 

[Mrs. K]

The thing is that if you have a good rooster, it is nice, if you have a rotten rooster, it is a nightmare. Some people think that people can do something to get a wonderful bird. Personally, I think it is a crap shoot.

Often times a cockerel raised with flock mates, behaves just like you have described. Very hard on the pullets.

One determining factor can be space and how that space is set up. Measure and post a picture. Too little space compounds all chicken behavior in a negative way. If that is the case, cull the cockerel.

Clutter can help a lot of chicken behavior. It breaks line of sight, it allows birds to get away from each other. Allows for feed bowls set up so that other birds can’t see who is eating there.

If you have less than 8 pullets, I would not keep a flockmate rooster. I would not keep any rooster that makes me unhappy.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

How old is he? From your other thread and photo he looks pretty young. Age could have a huge impact on his behaviors. So, how old is he?

What did "tried to mount" look like? Could you please describe what you saw?

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

While we have older hens and pullets, our cockerel is penned up within the run, still able to interact with flock but he's separate and able to grow out of those pesky teenage hormones--he was raised under our hen, which with past cockerels does make a difference.

Not sure if you're able to pen him separately, but it could work for a while, give him a chance to grow up or not. Or you could re-home him, and wait a year for a cockerel/rooster(and possibly have the chance to find a full grown roo), just tossing out suggestions and ideas.

There's lots of good info here already. Good luck

 

[Raubkatze]

Ah! I had the same problem when I established my first flock and the cockerels I had didn't grow up with older hens to teach them how to behave.

I will give you the AWESOME advice MrsK gave me (I cannot seem to tag her! ugh!)

Remove him to a separate pen -- better if you have more than 1 so he won't get despondently lonely. See if he mellows out as he gets older, he might, and then you can assess him then and put him back then. My George and Chuck and Sarge all were beyond horny with the girls when they were 9-14 weeks old and they were stressed and NOT liking all the mad chasing and attention from the boys. We separated them and PEACE ensued. WAY later, months and months later, when the boys grew up, we assessed and decided Chuck was the option. He's small, just barely larger than the hens themselves, and very docile. He ended up being great and we love his dorky self.

She also said that flocks are generally calmer WITHOUT a rooster and I would say that is 100% true. Hens do NOT need a rooster.

A good one is nice to have around, but not even mandatory. He does flock protection and minds fights - but there was not a lot of fighting before he showed up and they were already hawk savvy and called warnings themselves.

If you only have the one boy, you could make a side pen within view of the girls so he isn't lonely but can't get at them. Might work til he is older and calms down.

Once ALL the girls are laying he can go back with them if you assess that he's safe.

Hm, sounds like I might be ill equipped to keep the peace. I do not have a way to separate him other than putting him back in the brooding box, and that doesn't seem like a kind way to let him live. I am glad to hear that it's totally normal for him to start acting this way at this age though.

 

[Raubkatze]

The thing is that if you have a good rooster, it is nice, if you have a rotten rooster, it is a nightmare. Some people think that people can do something to get a wonderful bird. Personally, I think it is a crap shoot.

Often times a cockerel raised with flock mates, behaves just like you have described. Very hard on the pullets.

One determining factor can be space and how that space is set up. Measure and post a picture. Too little space compounds all chicken behavior in a negative way. If that is the case, cull the cockerel.

Clutter can help a lot of chicken behavior. It breaks line of sight, it allows birds to get away from each other. Allows for feed bowls set up so that other birds can’t see who is eating there.

If you have less than 8 pullets, I would not keep a flockmate rooster. I would not keep any rooster that makes me unhappy.

Mrs K

I only have 5 pullets. I was originally worried that I might not have enough girls to keep him happy. I didn't want him over breeding anybody. Our run is 20 foot x 10 foot. Eventually when they are fully grown I do plan to free range them.

 

[Raubkatze]

While we have older hens and pullets, our cockerel is penned up within the run, still able to interact with flock but he's separate and able to grow out of those pesky teenage hormones--he was raised under our hen, which with past cockerels does make a difference.

Not sure if you're able to pen him separately, but it could work for a while, give him a chance to grow up or not. Or you could re-home him, and wait a year for a cockerel/rooster(and possibly have the chance to find a full grown roo), just tossing out suggestions and ideas.

There's lots of good info here already. Good luck

Unfortunately, I do not have a way to separate him unless I put him back in the brooder box, which doesn't seem very nice to him. Sounds I may be ill-prepared to keep everybody happy based on all the information given so far. It was not my intention to even have a rooster, he was just the unlucky accidental boy when I picked up my chicks.

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Unfortunately, I do not have a way to separate him unless I put him back in the brooder box, which doesn't seem very nice to him. Sounds I may be ill-prepared to keep everybody happy based on all the information given so far. It was not my intention to even have a rooster, he was just the unlucky accidental boy when I picked up my chicks.

We've all had those whoops before, our first straight run of 20 chicks was 8 pullets lol

Any access to a wire dog crate?

 

[Mrs. K]

Boy - I think I am going to rain on your parade! I see trouble ahead of you. I am betting that is a pre fab coop, and they described it as holding 6 birds. Am I right? I am guessing that the coop size is 3 x 4 feet?

Having the watering system, and feed system placed in the middle, is good. Do you see how they block the view of birds on the opposite side? You need more of that. Right now the only use of the vertical space is the ladder, which is a great addition. You need more. Platforms where birds can get under and on top of basically double the space below. Mini walls - leaned up against the outside wall, can give shade, or act as a hideout. More clutter is better even to the point it is hard for you to walk through.

I am going to strongly advise your to remove the rooster from this set up. Your pullets are not ready for him, there is no where to hide or get out of reach, and the cockerel is only going to get worse not better.

Thing is, your coop is way too small. It is working now, because your birds are not full grown. Many people like you come to this website, when their birds are 6 months old, bewildered because their darling chicks have been raised together, and now are fighting and bullying each other. Some chicken behavior is ugly. It is almost always due to space.

Now, you might be able to remove the rooster a little easier, IF you add a pullet to the deal. That would reduce your flock numbers so that you could get through the long nights of winter.

So what to do? Give them away, and do not ask questions. Once the bird is theirs, it is theirs. Advertise on the feed store wall, or social media. You might contact the local 4-H club for other poultry people, often times there will be someone that is willing to help you out. If they want to feed a family, that is a noble thing.

If you can't give him away, can you or someone else you know dispatch him? You don't have to eat him, if that is repugnant to you, and at this age, there won't be much. I have heard of zoos or exotic animals will sometimes take them. You can bury the bird and plant a rose bush, or wrap him up and put him in the garbage.

The thing is, the sooner the better. Putting him in a dog crate is a good short term solution. But getting him out of your hens is important.

And this is the last drop on your parade, I promise. Occasional free ranging will not make up for a too small set up. In the long nights of winter, my birds roost up at 4:00 pm, and do not come down off the roost until 7:30. That is a lot of time to be squeezed together in too small of a coop. Your run is big enough, but that coop would be much better hold 3 full size birds, not 6.

I know you are not going to want to remove some of the birds, you just got them. But a peaceful flock is a lot of fun, and one where they fight, peck holes in each other is not. Always solve for peace in the flock.

Later, if you build a larger coop, after it is built you can get more. And really that would be better because then your flock is not all the same age. I think a multi-generational flock is the best chicken society.

Mrs K